“...nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should." - Julia Child

Balcer Rating for entire meal: 5

 

Roast Chicken with Tarragon Sauce

 

To roast the chicken:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Take any size chicken (this one was 3 lbs), and rinse it off. Pat it dry with a paper towel. Place it in a roasting pan and squeeze a half a lemon over it, then place the lemon inside the cavity of the chicken. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken, and a few pieces of unsalted butter. Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with a teaspoon of fresh chopped tarragon.

Place in oven and reduce oven temperature to 350F.

Roast about an hour and a half, or until chicken is browned and the juices run clear when you tip the pan. Jiggle the leg - if it jiggles freely, it is done. If it seems stiff, roast it another 20 minutes and try again. I actually double checked with a meat thermometer and cooked to an internal temp of 165 degrees.

To make the sauce:

Pour the juices from the chicken into a skillet. Using a spoon, remove as much of the fat as you can. A little is fine, but too much makes for an oily sauce.

Heat the juices until they're simmering, then add several tablespoons of heavy cream, whisking the juices and the cream together. Add another teaspoon of tarragon, whisk again, and taste carefully. Add salt, pepper, and more tarragon if wished.

Either serve pieces of chicken, or slices of chicken bathed in the sauce.

Obviously, the amount of sauce depends on the amount of juices - so if you have a larger chicken, it will take longer to cook, and require more cream and tarragon.

So there you go - a classic French sauce creme a l'estragon!

 

 “If you're afraid of butter, use cream." - Julia Child

 

 

Linguine with walnuts and swiss chard 

1 1/2 cups shelled walnut halves

2 lbs swiss chard

4 tbsp walnut oil

5 shallots, peeled and minced

4 cloves of garlic, peels and minced

salt and fresh ground pepper

1 lb dried linguine

1/2 lb Port-Salut, coarsely grated   

 

Place walnuts in a single layer in a large skillet over a medium heat. Toast for 10 minutes, turning once. Set aside. Trim chard leaves, discarding tough stems and coarsely chop and set aside. 

 

Heat oil in skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook until soft, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Add chard, season with salt and pepper.  Cook until chard is wilted, stirring occasionally.

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Longer for whole wheat pasta. Add pasta to chard mixture as well as about 1/2 cup of pasta water. Stir in cheese and walnuts, adjust seasoning and serve.

 

   
“I think every woman should have a blowtorch." - Julia Child 

 

 Creme Brulee

 

1 qt. heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
¾ cup sugar
8 egg yolks
Turbinado sugar, for serving
 

1. Heat oven to 300°. Bring cream and vanilla bean with seeds to a simmer in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and let sit for 30 minutes; discard vanilla bean. In a bowl, whisk sugar and yolks until smooth. Slowly pour in cream mixture, whisking until smooth; set aside.

2. Place a paper towel in the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking pan, and place six 6-oz. ramekins inside pan. Divide custard among ramekins. Pour boiling water into pan to come halfway up outsides of ramekins. Bake until custards are set but still slightly loose in center, about 35 minutes. Transfer ramekins to a wire rack; cool. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours.

3. Dab any condensation off surface of custards with a paper towel. Sprinkle turbinado sugar evenly over surface of each custard. Guide the flame of a blowtorch back and forth over surface until sugar caramelizes; let sit briefly until sugar hardens.